


La Vie En Rose.

by reidbyers



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-12-12 23:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11746989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reidbyers/pseuds/reidbyers
Summary: Spencer Reid didn’t believe in love at first sight, it didn’t seem possible for all the emotions that surged when you looked at someone you loved to be felt at first glance. This was until he met the nerdy girl at the cinema with a passion for the universe and eyes to match the stars.





	1. Chapter One.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was first published on my Tumblr "reidbyers" so be sure to check me out there for fics that get posted there first!

Spencer loved going to the cinema, it was both a relaxing way to spend his evenings and a way to keep his brain occupied. On more than one occasion he had invited his team to come along with him but most of the time they had an excuse as to why they couldn’t, once Emily had but after that experience she never joined him again. It didn’t offend Spencer at much as it might have done others, he joined going just the same as if he’d had someone by his side.

There was a cinema downtown knowing for playing the classics, it was tailored so that the hipster types who lived close by would come visit so they could then brag about the experience but Spencer enjoyed it for their weekend showings. Every Saturday they’d show a foreign film and even if Spencer couldn’t understand the language the movie used he still enjoyed figuring out the plot line without knowing any of the dialogue.

Since he lived such a hectic life he couldn’t make commitments like going and seeing a movie every Saturday, work and cases often got in the way and there were days where all he wanted was to collapse into bed and stay there the whole weekend. This weekend was different, he had actually gotten up before midday, finished off some work, went and got a coffee and doughnut from a local coffee shop before spending a few hours there with a couple of books. It was days like this where he remembered how much he actually enjoyed going out and spending time with himself, doing things he enjoyed without getting ridiculed.

At 8PM the cinema was going to be showing Wild Strawberries, a Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman about widowed physician named Isak Borg who goes on a trip from Stockholm to Lund to receive the degree of Doctor Jubilaris. It was a story about self reflection and coming to terms about how one lived their life, Spencer had seen it many times before but enjoyed it equally each time.

Spencer dumped his now empty coffee cup in the bin before walking into the cinema, a warm orange glow shone over the empty hall, yellow walls covered with movie posters and the steady scent of popcorn filling the room. He didn’t enjoy eating while watching a film, it took away from the atmosphere if he was instead focusing on the salty taste in his mouth instead of the story playing out in front of him. So instead of going to the snacks Spencer head straight for the ticket booth, rummaging around in his bag for the money for the ticket.

Spencer stood there silently for a few seconds, awkwardly fiddling with his money as the girl behind the booth kept her nose buried in her book. She wasn’t the usual woman who worked Saturdays, this woman had dark natural curls and her equally dark skin was kissed with freckles, not only on her nose but all over her face. Her brows were unkempt and thick and while Spencer couldn’t see her eyes from behind her glasses he was certain they’d be a beautiful brown colour.

“Is that the English translation?” He said eventually, recognising the book as The Iliad, a novel about the conquest of the city of Troy, all in the fight to win the daughter of Zeus’ love, as she was the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth. Spencer had read the book as a child, rather his mother had read it to him. He preferred Egyptian mythology but Greek was still an interesting read, not the sort of thing the average person read while at work though which was why it caught his attention.

The sound of Spencer’s voice made Dahlia jump in surprise, snapping the book closed and quickly dropped it down onto her bag which was shoved under the desk in front of her. No one had come around in almost two hours so he thought it would be an alright time for her to continue reading, she couldn’t imagine many people would be raging to get out and go see some obscure Swedish film from the 1950s.

“Oh! Sorry, I was just- never mind. What can I do for you?” Dahlia asked, putting on her best professional voice despite the embarrassment that had overtaken her. She wasn’t meant to be working day, her shift was on Thursdays but Alison who worked normally had called in sick and besides, it wasn’t like she was about to turn down the chance for some overtime.

“One ticket to Wild Strawberries, please.” Spencer slid the dollar notes across to Dahlia and she took them quickly, counting them in her hand to make sure it was the right amount before printing off his ticket. While there was that awkward waiting period, Spencer decided to engage in some small talk. “It’s a good book, The Odyssey is another good read if you are interesting in Homer’s other pieces.”

“I’ve, um- I’ve already read all his work, I’m doing a reread, want to make sure I didn’t miss anything.” Dahlia pushed her clear frames up her nose and ripped Spencer’s ticket out of the machine and handed it to him, she tried not to get in her head about how attractive this stranger was. Not only in his physical characteristics but also intellectually, she couldn’t say she didn’t expect this from someone choosing to spend their Saturday night alone watching a movie not even in their language but it did surprise her nonetheless.

“Oh, I thought I was the only one who did that.” Even though Spencer now had his ticket he stayed standing there, it had become second nature now to take in every detail about the people he came in counter with and he couldn’t stop himself from doing this with Dahlia. He noticed her slight lisp, she had an accent which he had thought he’d deciphered as being Canadian but he couldn’t be certain where exactly from. Her nails were painted a pastel pink but were chipped from not being painted in a while, there was ink staining the side of her left hand indicating she was left handed and on the freckles speckled on her right wrist they had been joined up with a pen, like constellations.

Dahlia caught Spencer’s eyes looking at her hands and she tugged her sleeves down to cover her doodling, it was something she did when she was concentrating, mostly when she was studying which is what she had been doing before she had left suddenly for work.

“And yes, this is the translated version. I don’t think many people can read Homeric Greek these days.” She worried that her kind of playfulness might not be type that Spencer found humorous but it made him smile so it couldn’t have been that bad. He adjusted the strap of his satchel on his shoulders and glanced down at her name tag.

“Well, thank you Dahlia.” He started to walk away but was interrupted by the sound of giggling, it was soft and breathy, the sort of sound you’d expect to if you were walking amongst a forest where fairies were rumoured to live. Spencer stopped a few steps away from the booth and looked back at her, Dahlia was now leaning out of the window against her crossed arms, looking after him.

“You just…um. It’s Day-lee-a, like the flower.” She said shyly, it wasn’t unusual that people mispronounced her name and while usually she just let them be she felt comfortable enough to address it this time. A look of embarrassment flushed Spencer’s face, he flipped the small paper ticket between his fingers as a copying method for the mistake he’d made.

“Dahlia’s were named honour of the pioneering Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.” He cringed at this words once they escaped his mouth, a simple sorry would have sufficed and yet he had gone and spat out some fact about some dead plant scientist. Dahlia didn’t seem to mind, she smiled to reveal a set of perfectly straight teeth surrounded by the soft plushness of her lips.

“Do you just know facts about everything?” She looked up at the clock on the wall then back down at Spencer, his movie would have started by now and yet she didn’t feel selfish in keeping him here. It wasn’t every day a cute boy walked in and made conversation about your favourite book. “What’s your name?”

“Spencer.” He replied, his voice as soft as her laughter had been. Dahlia smiled once more, she liked that name, it suited him perfectly as if his mother had known exactly what he would grow up to become.

“Enjoy your film, Spencer.”

He took that as time to finally leave, Spencer shot her a quick wave before turning fast on his heels and hurrying down the hallway, handing his ticket to the usher who had been standing there the whole time but had been paying no attention to the scene unfolding in front of him. He told which room Spencer was to go to, not before Spencer could look over his shoulder and watch Dahlia sit back in her seat and disappear under her desk for a few seconds before returning with her book.

There were only two other people in the cinema and it was an old couple, the woman had her head resting against her husband’s shoulder and by the looks of things they were almost asleep. The film had already started but since Spencer had seen it so many times before he didn’t mind that much. He found a seat near the back of the room and shrugged his bag off before sitting down.

Even though it was a film he loved, Spencer could not focus for the life of him. His mind kept wandering, he kept replaying the encounter with Dahlia in his head and going over each and every word they had shared. It was rare that he found someone who he got along with so easily without having to explain himself, most people found him to be strange and looked for a reason for him being that way but she had just went with it.

Whenever someone like this turned up in Spencer’s life he struggled not to romanticise them in his head, the encounter had been nothing but platonic but she found himself creating romantic undertones were there weren’t none - or was there? Instead of watching the movie he’d spent seven dollars on a ticket for he kept going over the three minute and twenty six second conversation he’d shared.

An hour and a half later the movie was over and Spencer hadn’t taken a since piece of the plot in, it only felt like a few minutes had past so when the lights slowly began to shine again his first thought was something bad had happened. Thankfully the couple were still asleep so they didn’t get to see the way Spencer almost tripped down the stairs as he made his exit, his legs shaky and his right foot battling pins and needles.

When he walked back into the main hall he tried not to stare blatantly towards the ticket booth where Dahlia had been, she had probably gone home by now and even if she hadn’t Spencer had no idea what he was planning on doing if he saw her. As he got closer he noticed the same curls full of life and instantly knew she was still there, engrossed with her book like she had been when he first walked up.

As Spencer got closer to the booth his mind raised with what he was going to say, all he knew was to not blurt out another pointless fact in case this time she didn’t find it as interesting as before. He swallowed the lump in his throat before stopping outside the booth, balling his hand up into a gentle fist and knocking on the counter. Even with how many times he had gone over their encounter he still had made her jump with his sudden presence.

“Didn’t your shift end half an hour ago?” Spencer knew this because every other time he had come to the theatre and walked out after his movie ending the booth was always empty, it wasn’t difficult to recognise a pattern after it happened a few more times.

Dahlia closed her book once more and peeked her head out of the booth to look at the clock, her thick brows furrowing into a frown as she wondered where all the time had gone.

“I guess I got distracted.” She said after leaning back in her chair, she slid her book back into her backpack before standing up, grabbing the keys off of the desk and walking out of the booth. “So, how was your movie?” Dahlia decided to make small talk like Spencer had done previously, she wasn’t all that interested in the film itself but rather what Spencer’s opinions were on it. He seemed like he kind of person to have lots of thoughts about things, educated ones that she would possibly find interesting.

“It was good. Did you know that Wild Strawberries’ actual name is Smultronstället which translates to the wild strawberry patch.” At least with this fact he thought it somewhat answered Dahlia’s question, it still was mostly pointless but after she didn’t tease him the first time he couldn’t stop himself from spewing facts left and right like a broken fire hydrant. It made him feel like he was worth talking to, having something intelligent to say. It also made him feel extremely lame, both sides of the coin.

“No, I didn’t know that.” Dahlia laughed as she locked up the booth, shoving the keys into her bag before looking up to Spencer. Since she had been sitting down there had been no way to determine their height difference but now she could see it was pretty big. She barely hit five foot and two inches and Spencer had legs that were as long as her torso and whole lower body. Spencer quickly noticed the height difference to as he had to tilt his head down quite a lot to look Dahlia in the eyes, he fought with himself about whether or not to say something about why females are shorter than men a majority of the time but managed to stop himself.

Spencer smiled, his legs hesitating before starting to walk again, only this time Dahlia walked alongside him. It was times like these he thanked his good memory as he thought back to the time Morgan had tried to give him a lesson on picking up women, he wasn’t focusing on that but instead what JJ had chimed in with after hearing the conversation. She had said that women don’t always like getting hit on straight away, they like to feel like you like them as a person first rather than a piece of meat to look at - it wasn’t like Spencer had ever viewed a woman like that before but it was still good to know.

“So… do you have any plans for tonight?” Spencer asked, it was difficult not to overthink whether or not if he was coming across as too forward, another thing JJ had warned him to be but like everything else he had worried about Dahlia just seemed completely unfazed; it was almost like Spencer was making a big deal over nothing.

“Not a lot, I have some studying to get back to and there’s some leftover pizza calling my name.” Dahlia replied, thinking back to her kitchen table covered in textbooks and scrap pieces of paper, her words transitioning from black to purple because after her fancy fountain pen had ran out of ink all she had spare was a purple gel pen.

“What are you studying?” His first thought was classical studies, if she was reading Homer for the fun of it there was a high possibility she was also studying it in someway.

“Astronomy and Astrophysics, trying to get my PhD.” Dahlia tried not to sound so cocky but failed, she was proud of herself for getting onto this course and actually succeeding so far, maybe gloating to someone you’d just met wasn’t the most humble of things but she didn’t care all that much. Besides, Spencer seemed genuinely impressed.

“Do you want to go into astrometry?” The doodles on her wrist made far much more sense now, the freckles she had dotted up came together to create the constellation Carina. If Spencer wasn’t a man of science he might have said it was fate that she gained an interest in astrometry, her skin a home to the stars.

“I love space, ever since I was a little girl I’ve been fascinated with it. Scientists always tell us that we all come from the water originally but before that we were up there, we’ve all stardust running through us in some capacity.”

They stood outside now, it was dark apart from the streetlamps emitting a warm glow from them. Dahlia looked up to the sky, studying it for a couple of moments before reaching down for Spencer’s hand. It was much larger than hers and she barely fit her own hand around it, she lifted it towards the sky and extended his index finger, adjusting until he was pointing at the brightest star in the sky.

“See that? That’s Capella, it’s Latin for little she-goat. Don’t ask me why.” She giggled once again before slowly lowering Spencer’s hand, if she had been looking at him she would have noticed how his gaze had shifted over to her, unable to keep his eyes off of her. “It’s the sixth brightest star in the sky and is 41 light-years away. Pretty cool, huh?”

Spencer nodded, now that he was closer to Dahlia he could see her features better. She had thick, dark eyelashes that framed her doe eyes, her nose was on the larger side but had the most adorable button tip and her lips were full and a rosy pink colour but Spencer couldn’t work out if that was their natural colour or if it was lipstick. He only looked away when Dahlia turned her head to look at him after getting no response, he hadn’t been quick enough and she had caught him staring. Instead of being creeped out, she found herself being flattered.

“I better get going, it was nice meeting you.” Dahlia shivered as a cold breeze hit, Spencer had his blazer on so it didn’t affect him as badly but she only had the short sleeved uniform she had to wear, her cosy pyjamas sounded like heaven around about now. Thankfully her apartment wasn’t far away from the cinema so after Spencer said his goodbye she started walking down the street at a quick pace, not because she wanted to get away from him but because walking alone at night wasn’t her favourite thing ever.

Once Dahlia was out of sight Spencer fished in his pocket for the ticket, he held the small piece of paper within his fingers and studied it for a few seconds, then looking up to the sky with a fond smile on his face. He wasn’t usually one for holding onto things for sentimental purposes but he was sure he could find a place in his apartment to keep his ticket safe.


	2. Chapter Two.

Collection of the Celestial and Synodic pieces by Adelaide Mueller.

Spencer looked over the poster hanging up on the cork board in the coffee shop he frequented on his route to work, there was a local art gallery which was celebrating the art of an artist who had apparently been painting for over forty years. He could only deduce that the paintings were about the solar system and space itself considering the title, Spencer wasn’t the biggest art fan as sometimes things were really just too interpretive for him to even try to understand. It wasn’t from lack of intelligence, a lack of artistic understanding instead.

Nowadays, he couldn’t think about space or look up at the stars without thinking of Dahlia. It was silly because he hadn’t spoken to her in almost three weeks and he was certain by now he hadn’t crossed her mind even once. For all he knew she could have a boyfriend, she could be gay, she could have just been being friendly and Spencer had to go turn what was a platonic interaction between two fellow humans into the foundation for all his thoughts and sentimental feelings.

It wasn’t like Spencer had been actively trying to avoid her, work had just got the better of him and he didn’t exactly have time to just sneak over to the cinema when there was a serial killer out and about. He could ask Garcia to look her up but he didn’t like involving his personal life and work life, things got messy that way and he doubted that on JJ’s tips to picking up a girl would include basically stalking her until you found out her number. So he had been waiting for the right time to go see her again, since it wasn’t her shift she had been working Spencer didn’t even know if Dahlia would be there to talk to but there was no harm in trying.

This seemed like the sort of thing she would enjoy, if she was fascinated by space then surely she would enjoy a gallery of space related art pieces? Spencer hadn’t planned many outings with girls, the last real date he’d been on had been back in college and it had gone far from perfect. Years and years had gone by from that awkward experience so he told himself that it would go better this time, if only he gained the courage to actually go back there and ask her out. There was no case to worry about now, only his lack of talent in flirting.

He waited until Saturday to go back to the cinema, it would look strange if he went every other day of the week in the hopes of spotting her. Besides, if she wasn’t there then he could always leave a message to whoever was and hope that they passed it on. Or maybe she would already be going, it did seem like something she would be interested in even if she didn’t have someone go to with.

Spencer wiped his sweaty palms against his trousers as he approached the building, it was 8PM like the last time he had gone but he hadn’t bothered to even look up what film would be playing, he was too busy trying to find the correcting wording to his offer so he didn’t come across as too forceful or weird.

The warm lighting of the inside hall bathed over Spencer, it helped relax him as he started to head in the direction of the ticket booth. As soon as he spotted the pile of curls his body seemed to relieve itself of any tenseness, despite knowing better he almost believed he was moving towards her without having to tell his body to move, like how gravity always brings you back home no matter how hard you try and leave. There was a pull, he felt it no matter if it was real or not.

This time Dahlia was reading Theogony, another book on Greek mythology this time written by M.L. West. Spencer made a reminder in his mind to ask why she was so interested in this stuff, maybe on that date if he didn’t royally screw this up and make her hate him. He opened his mouth to speak but remembered how he had scared her last time, so instead he sort of just moved his body around until the movement caught her eye and she looked up.

“Oh! Hello!” The simple flash of her smile had Spencer’s legs feeling like they’d turned to jelly. He was quick to notice all things she had changed this time, her nails were freshly painted a bright yellow colour and she wore a small leather bracelet which had something engraved on the inside but he couldn’t quite work out what it was. She wore darker lipstick and was wearing a lot of shimmery gold powder on her cheekbones, clearly she hadn’t been planning on coming into work. “Fancy seeing you here again.”

Spencer managed to laugh nervously and nod his head in agreement, even though he had spent the whole drive downtown going over the politest but also most casual way way of asking her out he couldn’t remember a single word of what he had planned.

“Let me guess, here to see Viridiana?” Dahlia asked while starting to print his ticket off, just assuming that was why Spencer was here. It was a fair assumption, why else would he? If she had been paying attention to Spencer instead of the machine she would have saw the range of emotions he went through in only a few seconds. He first went to stop her, then hesitated and awkwardness hit. He’d already seen the movie before but that had never stopped him from watching it again, it was more that he hadn’t intended on staying after saying what he needed to say.

“Um, actually…I wanted to ask you something.” Dahlia paused and looked round at Spencer curiously, he quickly realised she was waiting for him to ask her the question and he fumbled over an apology. “There’s going to be a new exhibit shown in the art gallery downtown, I was thinking that maybe you would perhaps like to go…with me? Spencer nervously fiddled with his fingers, desperately trying to profile Dahlia’s blank face. “The pieces are all about space and that, well… that made me think of you because you’re studying Astronomy so you must have an interest in space things. You told me you did at least, unless you were just saying that for some other reason then my apologies-”

Dahlia was full on giggling by the time she had to interrupt Spencer, he was the most precious thing she’d ever seen in her whole life. After their last meeting she didn’t think anything would have come from it, she did think about Spencer from time to time though like when she saw her Homer books or someone butchered her name. She was glad to learn that he had been thinking of her too, she knew so little about him apart from he liked foreign movies and knew facts about everything but that only meant she was more willing to learn more.

“Yes! Yes I’d love to go with you, I was already planning on going but I have a feeling you’d make it even better.” That was flirting, Spencer knew it. He only knew it because Morgan had given him a detailed lesson about flirting, he hadn’t been all that great at the flirting part but he was getting better at telling when someone was doing it to him. It should have been the easiest thing in the world considering his job but even after all those years, profiling didn’t seem to apply to the romantic aspects of his life.

Spencer pursed his lips tightly together in a smile, whatever anxieties he had about the situation washing away with the kindness of Dahlia’s smile. Now that they were going on a date he felt better about thinking his thoughts about how pretty she was, before it felt strange because they’d only known each other for a matter of minutes and while that essentially was the same, she had acknowledged at least some level of basic attraction.

A lot of the time Spencer felt like he should base his attraction of people on purely their intellectual capabilities and the aspects of their personality. It felt shallow to look at someone and decide whether or not you could be with them based on the curves of their body or the shape of their lips, even with all the scientific backing to why people were attracted to certain things. Allowing him to find the beauty in something without knowing everything about it was new, he liked it though.

It made him think about the stars. Everyone could look up at them agree they were beautiful, you didn’t need to know how bright it burned or what name it had to think so. To people like him knowing all the facts just aided in the beauty but it wasn’t critical, Dahlia was like that.

They arranged a time to meet up the next day, Dahlia put her number into Spencer’s phone before opening the camera app. Spencer with a doting look as she snapped a quick photo of herself, when she smiled her nose scrunched up and squashed all her freckles together like a tiny constellation painted on her skin. He couldn’t not equate everything to do with the cosmos with her now, it was a habit he wasn’t sure he wanted to break.

The next morning Spencer spent more time obsessing over what he should wear than he ever had done in his whole life. Eventually he opted for a blue button down shirt, throwing a dark grey cardigan on over it in the hopes it would make him look casual yet still smart. He didn’t know how he should be dressing, he also spent more time on his hair than he usually did but that was mostly because he’d had it cut recently in a style that didn’t look good if he just left it be. That was his own fault though, so he had to spent around ten minutes looking in the mirror and trying to fix the mess that was his longer on the top and shaven bottom hair cut.

He’d also been obsessing over whether or not he should get Dahlia anything, flowers while in his mind sounded nice might be too cliche and that was really the only thing he’d heard about people bringing on dates. It wasn’t until he walked past his bookshelf to grab his bag that he got an idea.

It was a sunny day, verging on too hot to be wearing a cardigan but Spencer kept it on anyways. He kept his head down as he walked down the street, keeping his bag with his attempt of a gift inside close to him. The exhibit opened at twelve thirty and they were meeting fifteen minutes before that, Dahlia insisted that it was going to be packed inside so it was better that they got there a little beforehand.

Spencer spotted Dahlia immediately standing outside the gallery. She was wearing a sleeveless flowey yellow dress with poppies covering it, it was a little ill fitting so it either belonged to someone else before her or she just didn’t know her own size. Over it she wore a denim jacket with various patches and pins attached and her shoes were a pair of scruffy black lace up boots that clearly had been through hell and back. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head but plenty of curls had escaped and were framing her face, her face which seemed pretty free from makeup apart from that same shimmering powder on her cheekbones.

Taking the details of someone’s appearance wasn’t something Spencer engaged in often, it was just interesting to see how she expressed herself with her clothes after only knowing her in her work uniform. Yet again she didn’t see him approaching, when he coughed to let his presence known she practically jumped out of her skin.

“You can never make a normal entrance, can you!?” Dahlia laughed and clutched her chest over where her heart was, she took a moment to look at Spencer’s outfit as he reached down in his bag and rummaged around.

“I’m sorry.” Spencer chuckled and pulled out his gift, the book was wrapped in newspaper and tied with a piece of ribbon he’d found laying around his desk. It was less than well done but he still handed it over to Dahlia anyways. “I got you this, the wrapping is a bit makeshift but it’s the best I could do with what I had.”

Dahlia hadn’t been on many dates in her life but still, no one had ever brought her a gift. The fact it was messy only made her like it even more, she pulled the ribbon undone carefully and then unfolded the newspaper until the book was revealed. It was a old copy of the book Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Greek myths reinvented and written for children to better understand.

“Now, I know you’re reading at a much higher level than this book offers but I still thought you’d find it enjoyable-”

“My dad used to read this to me.” Dahlia beamed down at the book, running her thumb over the dog eared cover. Maybe it was the imperfectionist in her that loved messy things but she liked that it wasn’t perfect and in mint condition, books were meant to be read and knowing another person had loved the book as much as she had made her infinitely happy. “He’s the one who got me into mythology, he used to teach it before he met my mom.”

Before Spencer knew what was going on he was wrapped up in Dahlia’s arms, she laced them around his torso and rested her head against his chest. She was too short to do anything else, her boots added little to no height but she liked it how it was, she was certain if she listened hard enough she would be able to hear Spencer’s heart beating. Spencer who wasn’t the biggest fan of physical didn’t mind it as much as he did with other people, he could smell her lemony perfume and could feel her warmth radiating against him.

“Thank you, Spencer. I love it.” Her words were muffled against his chest but he caught the drift of what he was saying, when she did eventually pull away she looked to her left and noticed how the doors to the gallery were now open. “Looks like they’re opening early, come on.” Dahlia shrugged her backpack off of her back as they began walking towards the doors, she made sure to wrap the book back up in the newspaper before sliding it into her back along with the other books she kept with her at all times.

Nebulas, faculaes, calderas; anything and everything relating to the social system captured onto canvas. They were rich with colour, fuchsia and blue speckled with white paint splatter, the universe inherently known for being dark yet simultaneously full of colour and that was highlighted so beautifully in the paintings before them. They weren’t the only people in there by a long shot, the gallery hadn’t seen so much traffic in a while but everyone had been brought together to witness the beauty that was the universe somehow captured on their walls.

Spencer turned round to look at Dahlia but he was instead met with nothing but a empty space, he looked over his shoulder and caught her rushing over to an elder pair. The woman was dressed in black with a purple silk blouse, a purple flower nestled in her curly locks - Spencer quickly labelled the flower as being a Dahlia. She was in a wheelchair but didn’t look frail, rather she looked full of life. The man behind her who he assumed was her husband due to their matching wedding rings had greying hair and facial hair to match, he wore thin rimmed glasses and had freckles dotted all across his face.

Dahlia looked back at Spencer after hugging the man, she gestured for him to come over to them and slowly he did. She decided that now was a better time than ever to show him exactly why she had been laughing when he asked her to join him today.

“Spencer, this is my mother, Adelaide. And my father, Charlie.” Dahlia stood beside her mother and gestured to each of them, the look that came over Spencer’s face filled her with pure glee. It would have been rather rude if she hadn’t come to her own mother’s art exhibit on it’s opening night, she had fully intended on telling Spencer but it had slipped her mind until now, other things had captured her mind like how thoughtful his gift was or how nice he smelt.

“You’re one of Lia’s friends?” Charlie asked, extending his hand for Spencer to shake. In any other situation he would have politely declined but he was too flustered to say no, he did his best to give a good handshake but raised his hand in a small wave when it came to Adelaide. Spencer looked to Dahlia for what he was to say, she just smirked and raised her eyebrow as she waited to see what he said.

“Yes…it’s nice to meet you both.”

“How are you enjoying yourself, Spencer? I know Dahlia likes them but hearing another person’s perspective is always good.” Adelaide asked, looking up at her daughter who in turn was looking at Spencer. It was clear to see exactly how much she adored Dahlia, he couldn’t help but wonder if his mother looked at him like that.

“They’re beautiful. I especially like your version of Stephan’s Quintet, the colour choice was different from the actual group but I actually prefer it. If I could I think I’d change them, not that I can because…well it’s collection of galaxies not a colouring book…” Spencer’s rambling slowly started to fade off once he realised what he was doing, yet again continuing to talk when others might like to have a chance to put their own thoughts out there. Adelaide just reached out and took Dahlia’s hand in hers, looking up at her once more.

“I like him.” She said, causing Dahlia to break out into a smile and Spencer to stop holding his breath and let out a sigh. As much as she was enjoying the interactions between her parents and new friend, she admitted to being selfish and wanted him to herself now. Dahlia bend down and pressed a kiss to the top of her mother’s head before walking over to her father who bend down, knowing that she would want to do the same with him.

“I’m going to show Spencer the rest, I’ll see you both later. Go continue being a star, mom.” Dahlia went and stood beside Spencer, he offered yet another small wave before he was pulled away.

“That better not have been a pun, Lia!” Charlie yelled after his daughter before a man working for the newspaper came up to them and started asking if they could have an interview with Adelaide. She’d been painting for over forty years and never had her art gained this much attention, of course it took her getting sick for people to start seeing the beauty in her work. As soon as a timer got put on things it forced people to act, no one wanted to be left behind.

Spencer and Dahlia continued to walk around the main exhibit, there were smaller rooms that branched off with other pieces of art but they were yet to go in those yet. Spencer wanted to take his time in looking at each piece, he never was one for art but he could make an exception today.

“Breast cancer.” Dahlia answered Spencer’s unasked question, people usually ended up asking about why her mother was in a wheelchair so she decided to get it out there before any questions made it awkward. “It’s easier for dad to help her get around than to have her struggle, the combination of the radiation and start of Navalbine have left her pretty weak.”

Spencer didn’t know what he was to say to that, part of him wanted to tell Dahlia about his mother but he didn’t want to come across like he was comparing their pain. He had questions, plenty of them but they weren’t appropriate for the moment and weren’t the sort of things you asked someone you were still only very new friends with. He wanted to let her know that he was here if she needed anyone, rather than saying it he just let himself be there physically and hope it was enough.

“They’re great.” Spencer spoke eventually, Dahlia just smiled and tucked a loose curl out of her face.

“They are.” She replied, before things got awkward or sad she wanted to get out of the conversation. The only reason she’d brought it up was so that Spencer knew but it wasn’t a topic of discussion or pity party that needed to be thrown. They were there to celebrate her mother’s art and that was exactly what they were going to do. Dahlia reached down and took Spencer’s hand in her own before leading him to one of the smaller rooms, it was dark inside and he quickly realised that the paintings inside were glowing. “So, ready to see the universe?

“Lead the way.”

 


	3. Chapter Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you're reading this on the day or two after it is posted then you are getting this chapter early! Usually I post things on my Tumblr (reidbyers) and then on here around the same time but I'm on a break from Tumblr until Monday so I thought why not give my a03 babes a treat. Be sure to follow me on Tumblr though to get more fics and more content from me in general!

Spencer didn’t know how he should have reacted when Dahlia invited him to her apartment, she quickly clarified that she didn’t mean it in the way it probably came across and that she only wanted to hang out but Spencer was still somewhat flustered by the idea. They hadn’t met that long ago and their face to face interactions could be counted on one hand but Dahlia seemed like the person who could just trust and befriend someone quickly, like she only saw the good in people and therefore had no worry. They’d spent the day together at the art gallery, Dahlia telling Spencer stories about her parents and Spencer telling her more facts about all the scientific things behind the paintings in front of them, stuff that she already knew but found interesting nonetheless.

They saw Dahlia’s parents once more before she suggested they go get something to eat, it wasn’t a huge exhibit by any means but there were plenty of paintings and it had taken them a few hours to look at them all due to spending a lot of time at each piece talking. It was so clear how much love her parents had for their daughter and how much it was returned, Spencer had his own issues with his parents but it was nice to know that not everyone had the difficulties he had. He’d also learnt that she had two brothers, Fletcher and Ivan who lived back in Canada hence them not being at the celebration of their mothers art.

“It was nice meeting you, Spencer.” Adelaide opened her arms up for a hug and Spencer knew in that moment there was no way he could avoid hugging her in return without looking like an awful person, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to hug her specifically it was more so just hugging anyone in general could be an issue for him. He wanted Dahlia to like him and by default he wanted her parents to like her too so he did what was suggested and leant down so he could hug Adelaide from where she was sat in her wheelchair. It was a bit of an awkward position due to him being so tall and having to hunch over but the hug was actually nice, maybe it was something about being a mother that made your hugs feel extra safe.

“You too, your work is beautiful.” Spencer said in reply once he pulled away from the hug, turning to Charlie before extending his hand for the handshake like the one they’d had upon meeting for the first time. Charlie shook his head and opened his arms before pulling Spencer into another hug, if anyone passing by would have been paying attention to them then they would have noticed the look of shock on Spencer’s face. He probably should have deduced that they would be affectionate like this from the way that Dahlia had spoken about them but for some reason he just hadn’t.

“You two have fun, not too much though.” Spencer felt his heart drop as he realised what Charlie had been hinting at, his immediate reaction was to burst out into an explanation about how that wasn’t his intention with Dahlia at all and how he didn’t even know how that could have even been suggested but he was sorry if it had, he already had planned out this huge speech in a matter of seconds but Dahlia was already giggling and quickly was defending them both much to Spencer’s relief.

“Don’t worry about it dad, we’re just hang out. Right, Spencer?” Despite what he might have been portraying, her dad wasn’t the overprotective type. It would be remarkably easy for him and her brothers to creepily possessive and to never let a man near her but who was that benefiting? The easier thing to do was to raise a woman who smart and could make her own educated decisions about things rather than having to baby her for the entirety of her life, still it was fun to play up the protective dad thing every now and then. Dahlia hadn’t brought back many men to meet them in her life and even though Spencer was only a friend, he was still someone who he could see Dahlia perhaps liking in the future.

“Yes, right. Completely.” Spencer overcompensated in the hopes it would back up what Dahlia had said, he usually didn’t make a habit out of trying to get people into liking him but this was different for whatever reason. If these people could create and raise someone as pleasant and cheerful as Dahlia then they must have been good people as well and those were the kinds of people Spencer wanted to be liked by. Whether it was her words or his he was unsure but it worked, Charlie just chuckled and laid his hand lovingly on Adelaide’s back.

A few minutes later and they were leaving the gallery, it was coming up to 4pm and Spencer swore his stomach began to growl as soon as they stepped outside. It was loud enough that Dahlia could hear it too, a low grumble that made her look across at Spencer’s stomach with a raised eyebrow before glancing up at his face, the tinge of embarrassment across his face too adorable to ignore.

“There’s lots of restaurants and cafes around here if you’re desperate, or if you can wait for about a twenty minute taxi ride then I made brownies last night that I could use some help eating?” Dahlia suggested as casually as she could, trying to sound like she didn’t really mind all that much with what Spencer decided, no matter what he chose they were going to be hanging out so that alone made her happy.

“You can bake?” Spencer asked after nodding his head in response to her last option, Dahlia just laughed as they jogged down the large staircase leading up to the gallery before starting to look around for a taxi, when there were none available the pair started to walk down the street in the hopes of finding one. The sun was shining brightly down on them and Spencer debating on taking his cardigan off but decided he didn’t want to carry it around with him or make a bad fashion choice and end up tying it around his waist. Dahlia however had no problems with doing it with her jacket, tying the denim sleeves around her waist with complete ease.

“I can add eggs and water into a bowl and dump in a store bought brownie recipe, if that’s what you mean.” Dahlia said once she had succeeded in tying her jacket around her hips, leaving her arms bare and exposed to the sunlight. Part of her was hoping that no taxies would show up so that she could just continue to enjoy the sunny day with Spencer by her side, the walk to her apartment wasn’t exactly a short one and she did have to walk faster than usual to keep up with Spencer’s impossibly long legs but it was still a relaxing thing to be apart of. Unfortunately for her Spencer spotted a taxi coming up the road and quickly hailed it, stepping back onto the pavement so that Dahlia could take the lead in telling the driver where they were going.

The taxi ride back to Dahlia’s apartment was filled with conversation, mostly Dahlia asking questions about Spencer’s life because he know knew plenty about her and she was still somewhat in the dark about him. She learn about his job, FBI profiler which took some explaining but once she understood what he was she was filled with curiosity. He told her about his mother, not the details but that she was in Las Vegas and he didn’t get to see her as much as he wanted, he had no siblings and his father was pretty out of the picture. Dahlia couldn’t imagine a life without the close knit relationships she had with her family so it was a bit of a shock to hear about someone who didn’t have the same thing as her, Spencer was still a lovely person though so things hadn’t gone too badly for him.

She learnt about his team, focusing more on their personalities than the cases they studied as Spencer doubted Dahlia was eager to hear about serial killers and pedeophiles. From what she heard they were all good people, made sense since they had dedicated their lives to helping others. Spencer told her about the things he liked, he enjoyed playing chess and reading, he was a huge Doctor Who fan and even pulled up a photo on his phone that Penelope had taken of the two of them together when they cosplayed; Dahlia found the photo positively adorable and suggested that maybe she should start watching the show, Spencer’s nerdy heart almost exploded at that suggestion but just nodded in response.

Dahlia’s apartment was a direct reflection of her personality. From the moment you walked in from the apartment hallway you could tell the kind of person she was, each room was painted a different pastel colour and the walls were decorated in photographs, in little stickers and post it notes with reminders on them. Spencer took of his shoes and slipped his jacket off, putting it onto the coat rack before following Dahlia deeper into her sugary sweet home.

She lead him into the kitchen which was a warm yellow colour, the kitchen table was covered in books and notepads, countless free pages of paper and stationary which Dahlia tried to scoop up in her arms and move so Spencer could sit down without worrying about any of her work. He passed her a few books she had missed out in her attempt to clean, books on astronomy no doubt for her course. That was another thing to mention, the hallway which each room linked off of had a ceiling covered in those glow in the dark star stickers, the kind you found on a child’s bedroom ceiling.

“Want something to drink?” Dahlia asked as she already started to rummage around in the fridge, pulling out a bottle of pink lemonade which she then poured into whatever clean glass she had lying around. Her sink was currently filled up with washing up needing to be done but Spencer tried to ignore it, an urge telling him he should offer to help clean up which he ignored. She poured a second glass for him even though he had yet to reply, it was a hot day and neither of them had drank anything so a cold beverage would be good no matter what. Spencer muttered a quick thank you as Dahlia put the glass down in front of him, then sitting down on the chair next to him.

“I like your apartment.” Spencer said after a sip of the lemonade, the sweet yet sharp taste coating his tongue and refreshing his dry throat. Dahia smiled and tucked a loose curl behind her ear, glancing around the kitchen as she nodded in agreement. She thought her apartment was pretty nice also, it was small and there were some issues like the leak in the bathroom and the mouse she had promised herself she wasn’t going to name who turned up every few days before vanishing but it was still a nice place. She’d tried to fix it up with colour and life so that it felt more like home, back when she lived with her parents her mother was always painting so by default there was just paint everywhere and that meant there never was a dull second. Even when things felt grey they were surrounded by so much colour that it seemed impossible not to be influenced by it, it might have been why Dahlia only wore the brightest colours; as an attempt to keep herself from ever feeling anything negative.

“My brothers came down and helped me paint it when I first moved here, hence why it’s pretty shit.” Dahlia explained after another sip of her lemonade before she stood up once more and walked over to the sink to then open the window behind it, hoping it would help cool down the room which was starting to feel a bit like an oven. Spencer hadn’t noticed the slapdash paint job originally as he was too busy focusing on Dahlia but now that he looked closer he could see the speckles of yellow paint on the otherwise white ceiling and the border. There was some texture to the paint from where it hadn’t been fully dried when getting painted on again but that was probably by there was so much stuff on the walls, a lot of paintings which Spencer could decipher from the strokes and style as being her mother's.

Dahlia then went into the fridge and pulled out a plate covered in tinfoil, placing it onto the table before closing the fridge door and opening the freezer in the search for ice cream. When she did find some it was a half eaten tub of cookie dough, probably eaten from one of the long nights she spend studying. Spencer watched as she closed the freezer, grabbed the last two clean spoons from her cutlery drawer before returning to her seat beside him.

“Hope you have a sweet tooth.” She said while peeling back the tinfoil to reveal the brownies she had made the night before, they were pretty tasty since she hadn’t made them from scratch and she was good at following directions. They might have been better fresh out of the oven as now they were stone cold but neither one of them chose to complain, Spencer’s stomach was growling for anything to be put into it and he wasn’t one to refuse sweet treats when placed in front of him.

“I do.” Spencer reached out and picked up one of the brownie slices, placing his hand under his mouth as he bit down so that he could collect any crumbs that escaped. The brownie was chewy and sweet, sticking to his gums and tongue but in a oddly pleasant way, the centre was gooey and Spencer was certain he pulled a few funny faces in the process of swallow his bite but it was tasty and was satisfying his hungry tummy. Dahlia chose to go for the ice cream first, making sure to scoop up as much cookie dough as she possibly could, a much bigger ratio to the ice cream because that was the only real reason she’d bought it in the first place. “I suppose it’s not an assumption to say the same goes for you?”

“Yeah, If I could I’d eat like this every day but I don’t think my body would appreciate that very much.” Dahlia said once swallowing her ice cream, it was so hot out that the ice cream in the tub had already started to melt but she didn’t care that much, she had a weird habit anyways of leaving it to melt as she was convinced it tasted better.

They chatted over their food, Spencer learnt more about the stories Dahlia had to tell and in turn Spencer told her all the things she wanted to know about him. He learnt about the florist her mom used to own, the bouquets of flowers that used to fill their house and then the hospital room when she got sick, the bar that her grandparents used to own before they died and all the pranks she would play alongside her brothers. From the sounds of things Dahlia had a lively childhood, it wasn’t perfect by any means and there were obviously things she wasn’t sharing due to Spencer still being a new person in her life but he couldn’t deny she’d had things significantly easier than he had. Was that fair though, to compare suffering? Making her life come across as less difficult was neither a benefit for him nor her, Spencer reminded himself to try and stop doing this.

Soon enough all the brownies were gone as was the ice cream, Dahlia passed over the now empty tub of ice cream to Spencer in case he wanted the soupy mess of melted ice cream puddling at the bottom - which he did. She watched with her face resting in her palm as Spencer spooned the last of the ice cream into his mouth, his tongue darting out to lick over his lips which Dahlia was now realising were extremely pretty. Before Spencer could notice she was staring she had looked away, suddenly becoming rather interested in the wood of the table they were sat at.

“So, now what? Have you got anything else planned for today or do I get to keep you?” Dahlia hadn’t intended for her words to come out as flirtatious as they had but by the response she got from Spencer which was for him to bashfully to look up at her and try to work out what she could be thinking of doing while also attempting to somehow reroute the blood that was rushing to his cheeks, she knew he didn’t mind.

“I have no other plans, did you have something in mind?” Dahlia’s face softened in relief once she knew she still had more time with Spencer that day, he was some of the loveliest company she’d ever had and it would be a pity to have to say goodbye so soon. She looked over to where she had threw all her books and other studying necessities, recalling Spencer mentioning about something like having three phDs and all she could think of that someone who was still rather young having that amount of degrees obviously had to be extremely smart. If he were to have said he couldn’t have stayed then Dahlia would have just gone back to studying but who said she couldn't do that now?

“Want to help me study?” Dahlia asked as she stood up from her seat and walked over to her books, picking up the textbooks and balancing her notebook on top then grabbing a few pens. “You seem to know a lot about astronomy, maybe we could make a little game out of it.” Balancing all her things in one arm, Dahlia pushed the now empty plate and tub out of the way so she could place all her things back down on the table.

Spencer reached out and picked up one of the textbooks, An Introduction to Modern Stellar Astrophysics by Bradley W. Carroll & Dale A. Ostlie. He had no issues in assisting Dahlia with her work but he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of worry at whatever it was she was planning with this so called game, he highly doubted it would be anything bad but he still couldn’t shake off the worried feeling. Dahlia quickly noticed this from his facial expression and laughed at Spencer’s paranoia, she was quickly learning he had a bad habit of jumping to the worst conclusion. They were opposites like that, sometimes though she felt like she needed to do that than to always just assume the best.

“What kind of game?” Spencer asked while flipping through the first few pages of the textbook, scanning the information inside while Dahlia watched him with a small and content smile.

“I answer a question right and I get to ask you a question, if I answer wrong then you get to ask me a question. How does that sound?” It was much less scary than Spencer’s mind had made him believe, it was also much easier to cope with as Dahia didn’t seem like the type of person who was going to ask invasive questions. She obviously was a smart girl and would probably end up asking harmless questions about his hobbies and such things, that he could handle and besides he wanted to learn more about her too. A lot of the things she spoke about involved her family in some way and while they were lovely Spencer wanted to know about her, how she was when divided and away from them.

“This feels stacked in your favour.” Spencer chuckled before flipping through a few pages of the textbook before landing on a page about accretion, which was the gradual accumulation of matter in one location. “What is accretion, and don’t repeat the answer given in your textbook.”

Dahlia knew the answer immediately but didn’t answer right away, instead she played it up a little and pretended ponder on his question, resting her finger against her cheek as she hemmed and hawed over what on earth the answer could be. Spencer could see by the the slight smirk playing on her lips that she was just acting but she looked so adorable sat there with that confused look on her face that he kept his mouth shut. Eventually though Dahlia pretended that the answer finally hit her and she turned in her seat so she was facing Spencer, crossing one leg over the other before speaking.

“Accretion is the gathering of particles into one object by continuously attracting more and more matter, examples of this happening are galaxies, stars and planets.” Dahlia wore a smug smile so big on her face that it became physically impossible for Spencer not to smile at her in return, he nodded in head in response and she just tucked a few more curls that had come undone from her bun around behind her ear while thinking of what question she could ask. “So, Spencer. Promise that you’ll be one hundred percent honest with me?”

“Is that your question?” At first it didn’t click with Dahlia what Spencer meant but when it did she had to actively stop herself from rolling her eyes. “I promise.”

“Apart from me having an interest in outer space, was there any other reason you wanted me to go to the gallery with you today?” Spencer hadn’t been expecting a question like that, despite him promising not to lie it would still be very easy for him to do so and for her to never know but what was the point in that? He might not have been very good at telling when someone liked him but he just assumed that Dahlia did to some degree, he’d been told on many a occasion that he was awful at knowing when women were interested in him so for once in his life he was trying to read the signs.

He could have lied but he didn’t want to. He asked her to go with him because he found her intriguing and beautiful, he wanted to know more about her and that was exactly what he had gained.

“When I saw the poster announcing the opening of the exhibit, I immediately thought of you. Not because I knew it was your mother’s art because at the time I didn’t but because you have an interest in that sort of thing. However I also thought it would be a good excuse for me to spend more time with you- not that going was an excuse! I enjoyed it, of course but you were what was on my mind…” Spencer’s words trailed off as he wasn’t sure he was making perfect sense, he was trying to say that he asked her to go with him because he wanted a real reason to spend time with her but it got muddled up with him trying to defend his use of words. Dahlia however understood what he was saying and was having to fight herself from beaming ear to ear.

“So this was a date?” She knew that technically she was only meant to ask one question but with how flustered Spencer had gotten himself she knew she could sneak another one in there without it clicking with him. The mention of it being a date coming from her lips almost made Spencer’s mouth drop open in shock, he hadn’t even let himself call it that in his head as he thought that would be moving far too fast especially when he didn’t know for definite if that was something Dahlia would have wanted.

“Would that be okay with you? If it was?” Spencer didn’t want to confirm it was in case it wasn’t, once again putting how Dahlia felt and could feel first before how he felt. Doing that for someone who still was technically a new person in his life was strange but it felt like the most natural thing, like he’d being doing it his whole life but just hadn’t noticed yet.

Instead of replying Dahlia just smiled and pushed the textbook closer to Spencer to indicate he should ask another question, it wasn’t his turn yet but when it was she would have no issues whatsoever expressing how she was more than okay with this being a day, and now she hoped it wasn’t the only one they would go on.


	4. Chapter Four.

Spencer had never really been one for texting, he found it taxing and would much rather call someone if he wanted to converse. However when it came to Dahlia he found himself doing things he never expected from himself before, she brought out a side of him that frankly he liked more than the day to day version he wore. Here he was, laying in bed texting a pretty girl who he was swiftly falling head over heels for; look at yourself now, teenage Spencer, things actually do get better for you in the dating department!

From: Dahlia.

_im watching law &order is court really this scary???? i thought the judge has to wear one of those white wigs or is that a fever dream i had_

She wasn’t exactly the most eloquent writer, most of the time he cringed at her lack of capital letters and punctuation but it was endearing in a strange way. He couldn’t lower his own standards and type in the same way but it didn’t put him off completely, he smiled at the complete over exaggeration of question marks as though he could paint a perfect image in his head of what a look of confusion would be painting her face. It wasn’t because she wasn’t intelligent, Spencer knew from first hand experience that she was plentiful in her knowledge; it made her style of texting even more confusing to him but nonetheless he continued to reply.

To: Dahlia.

_It’s not a tradition we still take part in here, you’re most likely thinking about judges in Britain for example. And yes, it is. Though Law and Order isn’t the most accurate depiction of the law system._

From: Dahlia.

_ill have you know that law &order is clearly the most accurate depiction of the law system on tv right now_

_what are u doing then if not enjoying the marvellous adventures of jack mccoy_

Spencer glanced around himself, his room was dark apart from the lamp perched on his bedside table and beside it lay the book he had just finished. The third one that day. For work he’d been told to take some days off since his unused holidays were starting to pile up. He had planned to go back to Vegas for those days and see his mom but a call ahead had told him that perhaps staying home was best. His mom wasn’t having the best week and as much as it broke his heart to hear, seeing him wouldn’t be helpful.

So he hadn’t been doing much. Spencer was not the kind of person who could just invite himself out places, at least not with people he didn’t trust and know completely and while he did like Dahlia, they’d only known each other for a few weeks. Saying that though, he’d met her parents and heard stories of her delightful brothers, shed shared countless stories of her childhood and her different loves so maybe she wasn’t the problem. Maybe it was him, there was a part of him that through years of awkward glances from his friends had lead him to believe that no one wanted to hear what he had to say. If he actually opened up more than just surface level then things would feel more...normal.

To: Dahlia.

_I’ve been reading, there’s not a lot of things else to do here. It’s late, didn’t you say you have a class tomorrow? You should sleep, you can manage at least six hours if you turn said adventures of Jack McCoy off, it’s not eight hours but people can survive on less._

Dahlia rolled over in bed, the sound of a new episode’s theme tune softly playing in the background as she tapped away on her phone. It was true, she did have a class put after downing two cups of coffee to help her stay away studying the urge to sleep was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t like she wasn’t trying, she had the crochet blanket she made back in high school wrapped around her and a hot water bottle tucked next to her making everything warm and cosy. It was her brain that was the problem, going a million miles an hour with thoughts and questions about anything and everything.

From: Dahlia.

_i could say the same thing about you, mister. clearly im not the only one avoiding sleep, you okay??_

To: Dahlia.

_I’m okay. There’s some family issues going on but nothing to worry about._

She little about Spencer’s family, the only stuff he’d told her had been the bare minimum which involved him being essentially alone in the city. His mom was back in Las Vegas and his father had been out of the picture for a long time, the last thing Dahlia wanted to do was pry but there was little she hated more than the feeling of being useless and so if she could something then it was her obligation to do it.

From: Dahlia.

_im here if u need someone to talk to, u can call me if you want? talking stuff out always makes me feel better._

Spencer pondered Dahlia’s offer, staring down at the phone screen as though the words were alive and dancing in front of him. He didn’t want to be a bother, sleep was what she needed not to be burdened with his problems so while he would have enjoyed listening to her sweet voice trying to reassure him that things were okay, it was better if he declined. Before putting his phone away Spencer typed out a quick message telling her goodnight, it wasn’t as easy as he thought being open with someone and though he wanted to be one of those people could just work through the insecurities in his head- he just wasn’t.

To Dahlia:

_It’s okay, it’s nothing majorly bad, I promise. You don’t need to worry about me. It’s late so I’m going to bed, you should as well. Good night, Dahlia._

It must have only been two minutes before the quiet and now completely dark room was filled with buzzing and the vibrating the phone was making on the wooden table, blue light blaring out from Spencer’s phone making his eyes snap open and squint over to see who was calling him. He knew who it was before his eyes adjusted and spotted the name, it could have been anyone on his team but he doubted that they’d be calling at midnight for a chat, of course it was Dahlia. The more they talked the more confident she became, she was still endearingly quiet at times but she wasn’t afraid of being too forward or scaring Spencer away.

Spencer watched his phone for a few moments before reaching out and picking it up, rolling over onto his back before answering and putting his phone to his ear. Before he heard her voice there was the sound of moving fabric, like she was getting comfortable wherever she was and then the sound of talking muffled in the background but he assumed that was the Law and Order show she was talking about watching. Despite not wanting to be a nuisance, it did make him feel better knowing that he had someone who wasn’t so easily pushed aside when he felt trapped in his own thoughts and issues.

“Are you actually okay? You don’t have to tell me what’s up but you also don’t have to lie.” Dahlia’s voice was soft and slightly hoarse, she mentioned before about feeling as though she was getting sick and the hints were visible. Before Spencer could even begin to come up with a reply she was backtracking, quickly coming to terms with the fact that while they were newly friends that didn’t mean she could just inject herself into his life. She didn’t know if that was something he wanted or could handle, everyone was different. “I’m sorry, is this rude? You sounded sad in your texts...I thought I could help? Sorry you should go to sleep, let’s pretend I didn’t do this-”

“It’s okay.” Spencer interrupted before Dahlia could talk herself into hanging up. He wasn’t sad like she thought but he also didn’t mind her company, if she wasn’t going to sleep then company might be what she needed. Tricking himself into feeling as though he was the doctor rather than the patient was an unhealthy tactic but helpful nonetheless. “It’s my mom...she’s not doing well.” He knew that because of her own experiences with her mother being ill Dahlia wouldn’t prompt him to tell her what was wrong, so many times had people done that to her and it was more than annoying; in this way it was like she was a safe spot, someone to talk to who wouldn’t go digging for details.

“I’m sorry, that sucks. Is there anything I can do for you?” There wasn’t but just hearing her voice was helping in a way. Spencer stretched his legs out so that his socked toes poked out from beneath the covers, blue and white stripes on one foot and purple spots on a blue background on the other, he had to wear socks to bed since his feet got so cold but it got him thinking. He didn’t want to talk about his mom, it wouldn’t help that situation so why not just go a completely different route all together?

“Do you wear socks to bed?” Spencer asked after a couple seconds of complete silence, it wasn’t awkward but heavy perhaps, the tone changed after his question and Dahlia understood completely the reason behind it.

“I can’t, I get way too warm. I don’t even sleep with one of those thick duvets, just a blanket.” Dahlia explained and tugged her blanket back up to cover her shoulders, her knees tucked up next to her chest making it much easier to cover all of her body. “I mean, I always use a hot water bottle but that’s more of a comfort thing. I like the way they smell, is that weird? Like, I don’t know, the rubber of the actual bottle i guess? Smells like my childhood.” She didn’t think it was all that interesting, the life story of her hot water bottle but it was something to talk about, she was here to distract and that was what she was going to do. The buzz from the caffeine was slowly wearing off but for Spencer’s sake she shook it off, forcing herself to not yawn and be pulled in by the want to sleep.

“I’m the opposite. My circulation is so bad my feet are always far colder than the rest of my body, I can’t sleep if I don’t have socks on.”

“That’s probably because you’re a giant.” Dahlia laughed at her own joke, a snort and a chuckle technically at Spencer’s expense but he didn’t mind, not one bit. “Seriously, you’re like a beanpole. I wish I could be that tall, guess god didn’t want to make my life too great.”

“Do you believe in a god?” Spencer wasn’t the best at making subtle connections topic to topic, he was blunt in his questions but when Dahlia didn’t reply immediately he was worried he took it a step too far. It took a few seconds for her to gather her answer, there was so much more to it than just a yes or a no. Since she was a woman of science, set in her ways of studying the evidence that the universe had laid out for her it was easy to assume that no, she wasn’t a believer. That was it though, she studied evidence and there was no evidence either way so what did that mean for his existence, was it small minded to just say that because there’s no proof that means he can’t exist?

“I think...he does exist but because we made him. I don’t believe there’s some old white guy with a beard sat on a cloud with his chorus of angels but people believe that so in someway he might as well be? It’s not even just the stereotypical Christian god, if one god has to exist then they all do.” She paused in between words, trying her best to word her complicated thoughts. It still didn’t make much sense but Spencer was smart, surely he would be able to work out what she meant. “What about you? Do you believe in god?”

Spencer took a moment to collect his thoughts just like Dahlia had, he too was a believer in science over religion but was not under the impression that the two could not co-exist. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be religious, to honestly and truly believe that there was something out there that knew all and would be there to greet you at the pearly gates or welcome you to Nirvana. Would life be more fruitful? Would he wake up every morning with a solid answer to all the questions he was seeking answers to?

“I don’t, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist though. Isn’t it egotistical to think that it does, that a person's belief is the end all be all of such a huge debate.” Spencer closed his eyes and focused on all the little sounds he could pick up from Dahlia’s side, the tv and her soft breathing, it was all small things but it was so much more than the emptiness of his apartment allowed for him. A butterfly light chuckle filled his ear and for a second he wasn’t alone in his room, everything was warm and cosy and that specific smell of rubber filled his senses. And like that, he was back.

“It’s kinda what we’re best at.” Dahlia replied and before she could say anything else a yawn interrupted, she tried to muffle it in one of her pillows but Spencer still heard it. Even while her body was urging her to go to sleep, she didn’t want to hang up. Remaining on the phone for the whole night was of course not an option as the phone bill on the other side was worse than any nightmare that could happen while sleeping but still, if allowed she’d be talking till the early hours of the morning. Who else could she have such conversations with? Her other friends and family while lovely and had many fun conversations they weren’t the kind of people she could just call up out of the blue. She wondered if the reason it worked so well with Spencer was because he was lonely.

“You really should sleep.” Spencer could picture her perfectly in his head: dark tight curls resting on a pillow, her expression soft with lashes long and dark fluttering with each attempt to stay awake. To assume that he didn’t think about someone’s appearance was just that, it was an assumption and a wrong one at that. He cared about their intellect and personality infinitely more but he was only human and couldn’t help admiring what some might describe as shallow things. “I feel better now, I’d feel even better knowing you got a good night's sleep.”

Dahlia hummed quietly in response, smiling to herself as she reached over to the remote on her bedside table and switched off the TV. Sleep did sound good and it’d also make Spencer feel better, it was all the encouragement she needed.

“Whatever the doctor says.”

After saying their goodbyes Spencer was back alone in his dark, empty apartment but he no longer felt so affected by it. There was nothing to be done to help the situation with his mom but maybe he didn’t have to, maybe it was okay that he focus on himself for once in his life and not trying to fix others in some attempt to help the loneliness inside him. He liked being alone, but there was a big difference between being alone and feeling alone. With Dahlia? He didn’t feel so alone, she didn’t even need to be in the same building to have that effect. She was like sunshine coming in through the window early in the morning, something to look forward to.


End file.
